Heavy Artillery Husband (14 page)

A minute or an hour might have passed in that beautiful, euphoric state until at last he rolled away, pulling her back tight to his chest. He snuggled her close and wrapped her in his arms. She'd fallen asleep this way almost every night they'd been together during the course of their marriage. When his breathing eased, becoming the rusty snore she'd missed so desperately, she let the tears fall once more.

They weren't done or safe, but she felt confident that together they could conquer any new obstacle Halloran or anyone else placed in their path.

Chapter Eleven

Frank woke before the sun, content and refreshed, with Sophia's warm, generous curves tucked beside him. It had been over a year since he'd slept so well and she'd been beside him then, too. He pressed a kiss to her silky sable hair, determined to make this the first day of the rest of their lives together.

He was indulging in a daydream of life after Hellfire when her cell phone hummed with an incoming message. It shouldn't have been enough of a sound to wake her, but her eyes popped open. Her gaze tangled with his and her smile bloomed.

“Good morning.” He kissed her softly, before she could roll away and be distracted by their problems. “I'll shower while you check on that.”

“Okay.” She seemed almost shy today. “It's the pilot. The plane is ready when we are.”

He grinned and kissed her again. His body was primed for the upcoming confrontation and he finally felt as though he had his head on straight. They'd get to Seattle and put an end to Halloran's operation once and for all.

A few minutes later, with a towel wrapped around his hips, he opened the door to let the steam from his shower dissipate and caught her pacing. She wore only his blue button-down shirt from yesterday and he took a moment to admire the excellent view of her shapely legs.

Then she turned and he saw trouble stamped on her face. “What happened?”

“There was a cyber attack on Leo Solutions last night,” she said, brushing by him to take her turn in the bathroom. “You can read the email while I shower. I'll be ready in ten minutes.”

He dressed quickly, lacing up his boots by touch as he read the email outlining the situation. According to his future son-in-law, someone had tried to hack into the cloud servers, using administrative codes previously assigned to Paul Sterling.

Frank wanted to punch something. “I need a target,” he muttered. Hearing the water shut off in the bathroom, he read the entire report once more.

Aidan relayed assurances that no data had been lost and all client information and systems were in order. He said the closest thing to a breach had been in the financials. The attacker had been focused on battering down the firewalls with no success.

Naturally
, Frank thought. This had Hellfire and Farrell written all over it. On a whim, he checked his offshore account and found the balance had doubled overnight. Hellfire planned to pin everything about the drug operation on him.

“Did you read it?” Sophia asked as she came into the room, toweling her wet hair.

“Yeah. Not the ideal way to meet my future son-in-law.”

Her eyes widened, and then her smile seemed to set her whole face aglow. “At least you know he's competent.” Sophia explained a few of the more technical details of the attack while she dressed, and they were out the door within ten minutes, as promised.

On the way to the airport, he told her about the money and his theory that they were framing him up tight.

“We won't let them,” she said. “I'll have a team make sure nothing managed to get added to our servers or accounts that would put us or our clients in a compromising position.”

He thought it through, reading the email on her phone one more time while the private pilot waited for clearance to take off.

“Sterling claimed Farrell didn't care about money,” he said once they were in the air.

“Right.” Sophia arched an eyebrow, then both eyebrows, as his meaning dawned on her. “Power and respect are his priorities. The money is disposable.” She tapped her fingernails against the arm of the seat. “I am sure he's using that bank somehow. I just need to find a transaction.”

He knew what she was trying not to ask. “Go ahead and have your team pick apart the offshore account.” From what he knew about his daughter, that wasn't her area of expertise. Hopefully, giving in on this would be a compromise to the request he knew she'd make as soon as they landed.

He let her work while he considered the best way to breach the import-export brokerage offices.

When the pilot started the descent, Frank felt the pressure dragging at him again. It was all he could do to stand tall and hide the stress beating at him as they collected their bags and picked up a rental car, another Leo Solutions company perk.

“Well, they'll know we arrived,” he said, following the signs toward the waterfront.

“I don't want it to be a secret,” she said. “After last night, I'm done hiding.”

“Have you found any record of Halloran or Farrell in the area?”

“Not yet. I have feelers out. You know she'd love to see you,” she suggested quietly.

Naturally, she'd seen straight through him to the root of the problem. He never should've opened up last night. The relief of her forgiveness only intensified his desperate need to be sure she remained safe.

“Ask anything else,” he said, ignoring the desperation in his voice. “I can't see her until I know this is over.”

“You walked into a prison for me,” she said, trying to lighten his mood. “This is your daughter.”

“It's different.” The guilt and shame were like grains of sand chafing at his skin. “Let's finish this first.”

Despite how he and Sophia had reconnected last night, he wouldn't presume he could stay in her life or Frankie's in the same capacity as before. Forgiveness was more than he'd expected. If only they allowed him to be a small part of their lives, it would be enough. It would take time for them to trust him after all the lies and deceptions.

“All right,” Sophia said, reaching across the console to rub his shoulder through his jacket. “Halloran probably has someone keeping tabs on her anyway.”

He hated that it was true. “He'll expect you to ditch me in favor of protecting her.”

“She's capable of protecting herself and the company,” Sophia said. “And she has her own kind of backup.”

“You like him a lot, don't you?”

“More than that. I adore Aidan. You'll see when you meet him and see them together. Victoria recruited him away from Interpol.”

“She has an eye for investigative talent,” he said, keeping to the safer portion of this topic.

“Yes, she does. We're very fortunate as a company and as a family to have friends like Victoria and Lucas.”

He did his best not to get his hopes up at the way she automatically included him in their future. From the moment he'd had to start lying to her, his secret hope had been that one day they could manage a genuine reconciliation. Now he wasn't sure he could get them all through this nightmare alive.

Halloran had had years to perfect his team, to increase his reach and influence. What chance did he and Sophia really have at stopping him at this late hour? “You're sure the data at Leo Solutions is secure?”

“Yes. With every update from the team, we're all more convinced it was primarily a distraction.”

“So we wouldn't notice what?”

“That's the big question,” she said. “The computers and servers have been scrubbed for viruses, malware and data tampering. We can even show our customers how secure everything is if this gets out.”

“It won't.” He wouldn't let it. One way or another, Halloran's threat to his family ended here.

Down near the waterfront, he chose a decent independent hotel with a vacancy sign. “Will this work?”

Sophia grinned. “Like a charm. Ready to make some heads roll?”

Her expression was contagious. When had he allowed himself to forget her inherent fighting spirit? Probably while he was in exile berating himself for not trusting her with the truth from the beginning.

They checked in, a valet whisked away the car and a bellman carried their bags up to the room. “It's better service than our honeymoon,” she murmured when they were in the elevator.

The memories put another kind of contagious smile on her face. He wanted to talk about what came after, but he was afraid of getting ahead of himself.

She seemed to understand, declaring the signal was fantastic when they reached the hotel room of the day and her computer was up and running.

“One more positive sign,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket. “How can I help?”

“First, we have to confirm Halloran and Farrell are here.” She pointed him to the phone in the room. “I'll let you do the honors.”

He entered the numbers she gave him and listened to the phone ring several times. He was about to give up when a rough voice answered, “World Crossing.”

“This is Halloran. I need a status report,” Frank demanded.

“No sign of trespassers. Container is off-loaded and heading this way now.”

“Good.” Frank replaced the receiver and grinned at Sophia. “Worked like a charm. The guy who answered said the container is there and trespassers are not.” The hired help had no reason to question the identity of anyone who had the right number to call.

“Then let's go.” She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “This is the perfect time for me to try to break into their computer.”

“You promised to try it remotely,” he said.

“And I failed.” Tucking her phone and a flash drive into her pocket, she started for the door.

He knew it was a losing argument and they were wasting time. “On one condition.”

She paused, sending him an expectant look over her shoulder. “Which is?”

“I'm in charge.” He stowed a camera, binoculars and his notebook in his various pockets. Then he added his gun and handed her the knife they'd taken from Halloran's son.

“All right, General.” She stepped aside. “Lead the way.”

He didn't expect the cooperation to last, but it gave his heart a moment to catch up with the idea of leading her into danger.

* * *

S
OPHIA
WAS
CERTAIN
she could draw Halloran out with the right incentive and she was certain that incentive was on the World Crossing computers. Money wouldn't be enough. By now he and the rest of his crew had their wealth hidden away and protected.

It helped that Eddie was archiving her reports and her new reporter pal Bradley Roth had already run a follow-up based on the few pieces of Frank's puzzle she'd felt safe sending him. Still, after the cyber attack and the windfall deposit into Frank's offshore account, she knew nothing short of a confession would pull the noose tight around Halloran's neck.

“Got him,” she said as Frank approached the pier that was home to the shady import-export brokerage.

“Say again?”

She laughed at Frank's slide into a more military lingo. “I just got confirmation Halloran is in Seattle.” She showed him a grainy surveillance picture from a camera at the airport. “He arrived last night.”

“You can't honestly believe he'll personally oversee the arrival of a drug shipment. He considers himself the deal maker, not the labor.”

“He didn't come to Seattle just for the golf.”

“It is a tourist destination, Sophie.”

She loved it when he sweetened her name that way. Only him. “Then score another point for us. We're not here for tourism—we're focused on bringing Kelly Halloran to justice.”

“Retired General Drug Lord.” Frank swore. “It still pisses me off.”

For just a moment, she let herself envision immediate success and what might come next. With Frankie and Aidan capable of running Leo Solutions, would Frank want to modify their original plans and travel more? One minute she thought she knew the answer; the next a flood of different questions rolled through her mind. The only thing she knew beyond any doubt was how much it would break her heart if he got hurt or couldn't see them as a couple the way they used to be.

“We'll walk from here.” Frank parked in a space close to the main street and came around to open her door. “We'll stick together.” He tipped her chin his way, holding her gaze. “I mean it. If I say we're done, I don't want any argument.”

She gave him her most cooperative smile along with the verbal reassurance. He rolled his eyes, knowing her far too well. In the past she might've added a salute, but today the gesture would be more exasperating than humorous. It was becoming clear that however they cleared his name, his career was over. She wondered if he was already lamenting the loss of that lifestyle or if he was struggling with what to do with retirement now that the business they'd planned was up and running and in capable hands.

They walked together down the docks as if they were looking for one of the several import-export businesses scattered among the warehouses. This was a working terminal rather than one converted to retail, and the scents of fuel, oil and heavy machinery mingled with the cleaner aromas on the sea air. It was a strange combination that put Sophia in mind of healthy industry and thriving business. It angered her that Hellfire tainted that with their illegal activities.

“There's the office,” she said, pausing to peer into the window.

“Easy, tiger.”

In the past, she would've bristled at the admonition. Now she just stifled a smile, knowing he was right. Impatience here could get one or both of them killed. “There are times when your cool-and-collected routine drives me up a wall,” she teased.

“More fun for me,” he said.

She glanced up at his face and caught the smirk. “Think Hellfire will agree with our definition of fun?”

The smirk turned edgy. “Absolutely not.” He lifted his chin a fraction. “We've got company.”

“Took longer than I thought it would.”

“They can afford to hang back now,” Frank said. “They know if we had the evidence it would be over already. The only way to get stronger evidence is to get closer.”

“They
think
they know,” she corrected. The piece about the adjusted weights on official contracted shipments might be Hellfire's downfall. “Why don't we just go right in?”